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The Exorcist III Review

By Eric Meyerson

Excellent

Yeah, I know. It's a horror movie with a number after the title, which usually as promising a signal as "This film was not screened for critics." Well, if Evil Dead II is the horror sequel's Citizen Kane, then Exorcist III is its The Godfather.

Burdened with a disastrous prior sequel, E3 effectively rescues the franchise with earnest terror and dark wit. Writer and director William Peter Blatty, the man who scribed the novel and screenplay to the original Exorcist, completely ignores the heresy that was Exorcist II: The Heretic, and picks up 15 years after the first installment with a story loaded with dastardly twists, dreadful things that lurk just off-screen, and Brad Dourif.

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Prizzi's Honor Review

By Christopher Null

Good

Widely considered a black comedy classic, Prizzi's Honor is dated today and, tragically, finally revealed as a middling work that wanders aimlessly and ends abruptly. The premise is simple: Jack Nicholson (doing a rare role with an accent) is a hitman, Kathleen Turner is a hit-woman. They fall in love, find out they're working for opposite sides, and are eventually ordered to kill each other. Will love conquer all? You be the judge. The film takes half an hour to finally get rolling, while a serious of side plots interfere with the narrative until the movie suddenly just stops. Anjelica Huston won an Oscar for her part as Nicholson's jilted ex-lover, and while it's good, her five minutes of screen time don't merit an Academy Award. What was wrong with Bill Hickey, as the ascerbic Don in one of his best roles ever?

Q & A Review

By Christopher Null

Good

Sidney Lumet's sprawling cop/DA drama shows promise but ends up muddled and confused, the victim of a few too many subplots and side characters -- all of whom get killed. Nolte is hilariously bad and good at the same time as a corrupt cop, while Hutton is the earnest DA trying to bust him. Remarkably mediocre.

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The Exorcist III Review

By Christopher Null

Very Good

So we're not talking about great art here. But pound for pound, this second sequel to The Exorcist is one of the most frightening movies ever made. Largely set in an old hospital, we find that Father Damien may very well be alive and kicking in the depths of the mental ward -- and possibly possessed by the devil and with the power to possess others at will to do his bidding outside the confines of the straightjacket.

Continue reading: The Exorcist III Review

Amazing Grace And Chuck Review

By Christopher Null

Very Good

Feel-good movies starring kids wiser than their parents were a staple of the 1980s, but Amazing Grace and Chuck is one of the most ambitious, with a single child leading the world all the way to total nuclear disarmament. Chuck is the kid, Amazing Grace is a Boston Celtic that helps him out in his quest. Gregory Peck is the president, and the saccharine threatens to choke you at times during the movie, but ultimately Mike Newell (director of Four Weddings and a Funeral) manages to make the film into something worthwhile.